Where does the kangaroo live? Their way of life. How many live kangaroos?

How diverse the world is, how many amazing plants and animals live on our planet! And such a bright representative of nature, its next miracle, you can safely consider kangaroos. Surely everyone knows what country the kangaroo lives in. Of course, in Australia. But many may have a question about where the kangaroos live, except for Australia. And they also live in New Zealand, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Tasmania. In total, there are more than fifty species of these animals. All of them differ in size and weight. There are giant kangaroos: red and gray, there are kangaroo rats, wallabies are medium-sized individuals, and others.

Kangaroo: description of the animal

This animal refers to marsupials. The growth of giant kangaroos is quite impressive. Males grow from one hundred to one hundred and seventy centimeters in height, and weigh from twenty to forty kilograms. Females are slightly smaller, their height is from seventy-five centimeters to one meter, weight is from eighteen to twenty-two kilograms. The color of the coat is from light gray to reddish-red. All kangaroos have a naked black nose and long ears. Thanks to these ears, the animal can catch even the faintest sounds, which allows us to hear the approach of the enemy in time.

The kangaroo has very long hind legs and a tail, due to which the animal keeps balance during the movement. And they move only by leaps. Due to the powerful rear paws, the animal can run at speeds up to 60 km / h when running, and when it escapes from the predator, it also reaches 90 km / h. But at such a speed the animal can run very short. Its front paws are short, with very long claws, with which they defend themselves against predators and dig holes in search of water. And thanks to their claws, males find out the relationship with each other.

The question arises: how many live kangaroos? And they live about eighteen years. Sexually mature age reaches about two years. Animals can mate throughout the year. Pregnancy of the female lasts thirty-two days. A baby kangaroo is called joey. He is born blind and without fur, and even quite tiny - two and a half centimeters. Immediately after birth, the baby crawls to the mother's bag, where it is up to six months. Having reached the age of six months, the baby starts to take the first steps, but still returns to the bag. There he lives up to nine months. It should be noted that the bag is only available for females. It has four nipples. The female simultaneously produces several types of milk for different ages of her cub. The fact is that she, having a very young baby, can be pregnant. And in the bag can be just a few cubs of different ages. The size of a bag the female kangaroo is able to regulate - do it more, then less. Joey is growing, and so he needs more space, but when the mother moves around, the bag's walls are squeezed so that the baby does not jump out.

Animal life. Where do kangaroos live in Australia?

Inhabit animals in the rocky areas of the continent. There they feel more secure. Kangaroo - animals are social. The family consists of a male and several females. When the cub reaches the age of sexual maturity, he leaves the family and creates his own. They feed on these animals only vegetable food. During the drought, they can independently extract water, digging deep (up to one meter in depth) pits. They can also get the necessary water from food. Animals are nocturnal. It is at dusk that they go out to pastures to refresh themselves with juicy grass, while in the day they rest in the shade of trees, hiding from the scorching sun. If any animal hears the approach of the enemy, then immediately begins to knock loudly with its hind legs, warning the relatives about the danger. From time immemorial on the continent where kangaroos live, there were no predators, and the animals felt absolutely safe.

But with the arrival of Europeans over the kangaroos, a threat loomed. Some brought dogs were wild - they were called dingo dogs. And now they were the main enemies of kangaroos. When attacking a predator, the animal tries to lure it into the water and drown it. If there is no pond nearby, the kangaroo reaches the nearest tree, rests against it with a back and deals a crushing blow with its hind legs. And the paws are really strong. Kangaroo can easily jump over a three-meter barrage. Wherever there is a kangaroo, there are no other large predators. But animals can undergo another misfortune. Very dangerous for the kangaroos are the midges, which kill the eyes, causing severe inflammation. The animal can go blind!

Kangaroos have confidence in people and are practically not afraid of them. Very often these animals can be found in the park or in the forest. If you go to the place where the kangaroos live, and you are lucky to meet them, it is likely that the animal will even allow itself to be photographed.

History of the name of the animal

Such an eccentric name - "kangaroo" - the animal received thanks to the discoverers of the unknown at the time the continent. When the Europeans saw these amazing animals, they asked the aborigines: "Who is this?" To which the locals responded: "Ken Gu Ru", which translates as "we do not understand." The navigators thought it was the name of the animal. So the name "kangaroo" also stuck to it.

Kangaroo Island

Near Australia is the island where the kangaroos live. This territory has not yet been completely mastered by man, therefore the animals feel very well here. The animal world is represented in this area in its original form. The number of kangaroos on the island is very high.

Wallaby

Wallaby is a marsupial animal belonging to the Kangaroo family. It is an exact copy of a giant kangaroo, only in a reduced form. In height, these animals reach seventy centimeters and weigh up to twenty kilograms. There are up to fifteen species of this animal, some are on the verge of extinction - such as striped wallabies. From the once numerous species, almost nothing remained. They are found only on two islands, located near the western coast of Australia. There are mountain wallabies, and there are swamps. In appearance and habits, they do not differ - only by their habitat.

Where do wallabies live?

Mountain wallabies live in forest thickets and are found throughout Australia. They lead the same way as their brothers, giant kangaroos, mostly night life. They feed on juicy grass, bark of trees and young shoots. Marsh wallabies live on wet plains.

Interesting Facts

Surprisingly, the wallaby can be kept as a pet. They are easily tamed. But for this you need to take a small animal, not yet untrained from milk, and independently feed it from the bottle. Otherwise, the animal will be very difficult to tame.

Kangaroo rat

The second name of the animal is musk kangaroos. This small animal is small. His body reaches a length of forty centimeters, a third makes a tail. It is covered with a dark thick fur, on which are visible red specks. The fur on the hind legs is dark brown, but the feet are absolutely naked. In appearance, animals are very similar to ordinary kangaroos. Live animals in hard-to-reach thickets along the banks of rivers. They lead the animals to a daily life, lazily digging in plant waste in search of insects, earthworms and plant tubers. They also eat grass, bark of trees and palm fruit. Females of their young are carried in a bag.

Kistuhvosty kangaroo

It is a marsupial of the size of a rabbit. The coat is rather long, the upper part is dark in color with black specks, and the coat on the abdomen is dirty white. The name this kind of kangaroo received from the crest of shaggy black hair on the part of the tail. The length of his body is sixty-seven centimeters, of which thirty-one makes a tail. The animal digs in the ground grooves, which lining the grass and branches, it turns a kind of nest. The place for the bed is a bushy kangaroo chooses in dense thickets of grass, so it's very difficult to see it in the wild. In the afternoon the animals lie in the nests, and at night they go out for feeding. They feed on the animals with grass and roots of plants, which are very deftly excavated from the earth.

Australia - the country where kangaroos live - is an amazing place. And if you have the opportunity to visit this wonderful continent, go. At least to see with my own eyes the wonderful kangaroos.